Jakob Milani
Staff Writer
The rim looked like an ocean to shooters for Murray State women’s basketball team during their game against Morehead State on Thursday, Feb. 4, making it rain from deep en route to a 70-54 win.
The Racers got out to a quick 5-1 lead with 7:38 left in the first quarter, with three of those points coming from freshman forward Katelyn Young. The Eagles took an 8-7 lead with 5:39 left on a layup from sophomore guard Ariel Kirkwood. The Racers took a 9-8 lead with 5:13 left in the quarter and sustained their lead through the end of the quarter. The Racers shot 7-14 from the field while the Eagles shot 6-16 from the field. At the end of the quarter, the Racers led the Eagles 16-14.
The Racers extended their lead in the second quarter, at one point going on a 6-0 run for 1:57. The Eagles shot well in the quarter and made five of their last nine shots. However, the Racers’ offense was too much for the Eagles’ defense to handle as they scored 20 points in the second, while the Eagles tallied just 13 points. The Racers led the Eagles 36-27 heading into halftime.
In the first half, the Racers shot 52% from the field while the Eagles shot 39%. Young led the Racers in scoring with 11 points and four rebounds, shooting 5-8 from the field.
Murray State continued to extend its lead in the third quarter as they started on a 9-0 run over the first 3:24 of the quarter, which put them up by 18. Over the next 2:27, the Eagles put together their own 5-0 run, shrinking the lead to 13 points. Both teams traded baskets throughout the rest of the quarter with the Racers scoring the last basket of the third on a layup by freshman guard Bria Sanders-Woods, giving the Racers a 52-41 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was all Murray State as the Racers scored 18 points on 6-11 shooting from the field. The Racers caught fire from three-point range as they shot 5-5 from behind the arc. The Eagles shot 6-18 from the field in the quarter, scoring 13 points. The Racers went up by as many as 20 points with 1:08 left in the game and walked away victorious, defeating the Eagles by a score of 70-54.
Murray State had four separate players with double-digit points in the game. Sanders-Woods led the Racers in scoring with 18 points on 6-8 shooting from the field and 4-6 shooting from three-point range. Junior guard Macey Turley finished with 17 points in the game. She shot 6-14 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line.
Junior guard Lex Mayes finished with 12 points on 4-7 shooting from three-point range. Young added 11 points on 5-11 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds in the game marking her seventh double-double of the season.
The Eagles finished with two players in double digits. Kirkwood finished with a 19-point 14-rebound double-double. She shot 7-19 from the field, 3-6 from three-point range and 2-3from the free throw line. Sophomore forward Gabby Crawford finished with 14 points on 7-17 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.
The Racers shot 50% from the field compared to the Eagles’ 36%. The Racers also shot 10-23 from three-point range and 8-13 from the free throw line. Despite the lopsided scoring, the Eagles won the rebounding battle, grabbing 37 rebounds compared to the Racers’ 33.
Murray State improves to 9-9 on the season and 6-7 in conference play. The Racers currently sit at eighth in the conference standings with seven games left in the season. The Racers travel to play the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Saturday, Feb. 6, at noon.
